Beatification is one of the final steps in the sainthood process. All beatified individuals are awarded the title of “Blessed" and a church feast day. In order to be considered for beatification, at least since the 1983 Catholic Church reforms, there must be at least one documented miracle that is directly attributed to the candidate. Miracles are expected to be instantaneous, complete and unexpected. Within the last thousand years eight men have achieved the office of Pope while alive and beatification following their death. And on May 1, 2011, Pope John Paul II will become the ninth Pope to achieve this designation. This is a very big deal. He will be the first Pope in over 300 years to receive this honor, and the ceremony is expected to draw record numbers to Rome.
Beatified Pope/Years in Office/Feast Day
Victor III (1086-1087) - September 16
Urban II (1088-1099) - July 29
Eugene III (1145-1153) - July 8
Gregory X (1271-1276) - January 9
Innocent V (1276) - June 22
Benedict (1303-1304) - July 7
Urban V (1362-1370) - December 19
Innocent XI (1676-1689) - August 12
Of course, far more Popes have been canonized. In fact, 78 Popes in total are saints. This includes a lot of the early Popes during the first thousand years of the Roman Catholic church. However, only 3 of the 78 lived past the year 1085. The last Pope canonized was Pope Pius X, who served as Pope from 1903-1914.
References:
References:
Chronicle of the Popes by P.G. Maxwell-Stuart
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